![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
A staple of the school community for over 20 years, the BBQ club seeks to foster school spirit this football season, while also exploring grilling during other sports seasons.
In addition to grilling during the fall football season, this year’s BBQ club officers are thinking about expanding the club to sports that play later in the year. ”We’re exploring grilling at home games for different sports, not just football, and in the spring at lacrosse games,” senior grillmaster Lizzie Misovec said.
BBQ Club has been an integral part of the school community since its formation in 2002. Since then, the club has skyrocketed to being one of the biggest clubs at the school with over 100 members this year. “We’ve had way more kids at the grill this year than we’ve ever had before,” club sponsor and social studies teacher Jenn Bauer said.
One of the traditions associated with the BBQ club is the unique merchandise the club designs. This year, the club featured a new light gray hoodie with a flying pig on the front as well as the iconic red shirt with a customizable nickname on the back. “All of the grillmasters worked together on the merch designs,” Misovec said.
Another BBQ club tradition is the “nominating” of grillmasters. Every year, the current grillmasters each select one junior to take their spot for the next year. “We try to find kids who go to lots of sports games, not just football games, as well as kids who are screaming and cheering a lot during the games,” former grillmaster and current freshman at Elon University Kaitlin Mariani said.
Potential grillmasters for next year include juniors, Jack Kerns and Matthew Kunst. Despite having to keep up with a busy fall baseball schedule, Kerns and Kunst make sure to attend as many football games as they can. “It’s always fun coming to the pregame cookouts. The food is great and the games are fun,” Kerns said.
Although the club has had its fair share of success, there is always potential for change in the future. “I would make maybe one or two more grillmasters because there is a lot of work to do while grilling and it would help manage our responsibilities,” Misovec said.
Although the BBQ club handles merchandise designing, food preparation, and social media management, the grillmasters have one main goal for their club. “We want to bring the school together,” Misovec said.
Both Mariani and Bauer have made memories during their time with the BBQ club. “My favorite part was being able to hype people up at the football games and hanging out with people at the tailgates,” Mariani said.
Bauer’s favorite part of the club was a little bit different. “My favorite memories are from the early years when they would accidentally set the grass on fire,” Bauer said.
As the football season draws to a close, BBQ Club plans to end the fall season on a strong note. “We hope that everyone comes to our final regular season tailgate on Oct. 20,” Misovec said.
This story was originally published on Common Sense on October 24, 2023.